Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-07-14
WILD GAME IN MONTANA.
ANTELOPE MAKING FRIEND WITH
THE UNTAMED BEEF CATTLE.

In crossing the northwest plains as far
back as 1873, 1880 and 1881, it was an every
day occurrence to run upon many herds Of
buffalo, some Of them so large that it would
require all the way from one 10 three days to
pass through them l remember such was
the case in the winter of 1875 while our COM
mand was chasing Sitting Bull and his myr-
midous toward the British border. Lining
the Red Water, and stretched out over a
broad expanse of country, was tremendous
herd of bison that must have numbered close
on to 10000 head, for it took US nearly
seventy-two hours to pass through this mon
strous mass of living creatures, who made
little attempt to give US the right Of way.
On this same expedition we would frequently
encounter some large bands Of antelope,
something like bunches of 600 head, more
or less, but we always found it a difficult
matter to approach within reasonable shoot
ing distance of these gazelles of the plains,
owing to their keenness of sight, acuteness
Of smell, and nimbleness Of foot. Once sighted
by antelope, it meant a shot at 400 yards
and beyond, or not at all
But now comes the remarkable discovery
made Of the habits of the antelope and
which l believe are not put down in any Of
the books which tell US, and are supposed to
know, all about the ways, customs, and
habits of this beautiful game animal As re-
marked, 400 yards was near for shot il dis
covered, although 800 and 200 yards have
been gained by close creeping and crawling IL
neither scented nor seen. On the other hand,
buffalo might be approached almost with
impunity up to 25O yards, but the ring Of
rife brings on a big scare, when off bound
the big fellows at 2:40 gait and are soon
lost to view in the distance and dust Of the
prairie. Now it happened while hunting
bison that became aware of this fact, that
antelope associate with, browse in company
and keep sort Of curious friendship with the
big unwieldy brutes. l observed scattered
all through the buffalo herds numerous MEM
bers of the antelope family, and also that they
seemed to be bereft of fear when in such good
company, for very seldom did observe them
take to their heels even when rode down the
bison and scattered them right and left. On
one occasion after sending about 600 buffalo
scanpering over the hills, saw a dozen or SO
antelope who hung in the rear and on the
fanks Of the herd, seemingly loath to take to
their heels and seek safety in flight. rode
up to one buck, actually approaching 70
within twenty-five yards of him, and shotthe
fine fellow with my revolver.
ANTELOPE AMONG CATTLE.
Strange to say, the hills and valleys Of
Montana this year show greater number of
antelope than at any time since the season Of
1881 The correspondent has been riding
over the south Yellowstone ranges-in about
two feet of snow, more or less-and in running
across numerous herds of cattle along the
Aizpah, Pumpkin, Powder and Tongue
rivers, was surprised and aStonished to find
hcattered all through the cattle any number
of fine, fat antelope. Cows and antelope
were grazing side by side, on the most inti-
mate and friendly terms, the former SEEM
ingly as wild and unapproachable as the lat
ter, and all enjoying themselves as only wild
animals can. Neither myself nor the friend
riding with me-who by the way, was owner
of all the stock we had seen and passed
throughsfor miles-was able to approach closer
than distance of 200 yards Antelope and
steers stood us of that distance, and would
allow no closer acquaintance even from my
friend, who was master of all that beef
around him The day was a fine one, the
sun shining brightly, and rehecting from the
CLASSY, white crusted surface a glare of such
power and force that it caused my eye to
water, and also gave me much pain whenever
attempted to concentrate my gaze on any
snow blindness, although totally unaware Of
it at the time.
The truth was made apparent when my
friend, knowing that was a fair shot with
the rife, invited me to try my hand at bring
ing down one Of the visiting antelope from
where he stood. l confidently unstrung my
Winchester, and after throwing a cartridge
into the chamber took fine aim at the fore
head Of a magnificent buck, who was intently
watching us from the short range of 200 yards
could see the eyes of the animal plainly, but
when attempted to glance along the sights
both the forehead and the rear notch became
so badly blurred that it was simply impossible
to draw an accurate aim. / lowered the
piece, and, for few minutes the whole pam
Drama spread out before me became dane
ing mirage, so that was unable to distin-
age steers from antelope and ground from
the sky. Ny vision came back to me in a
few minutes, but upon attempting the sight
ing process again the same indistinct blur
came over the sights and rendered an accu-
rate aim impossible 1 tried it again and
again with the same result, and then remem-
bered pointer given me by an old plains
hunter some years before, which was and is a
thorough and positive antidote for snow
blindness
Take piece of burnt cork, or if that is not
handy, burn match and char a little piece
of wood. Black the skin around and under
the eyes, and also the whole length of the
nose on each side, and also down the bridge
of the nasal organ. Armed with this little
precaution, no one need ever fear an attack
of snow blindness. My friend had a match,
and as for the cork-well, we had bottle
between US, and portion of the stopper was
quickly converted into charcoal. With this
literally "smutted" my nose and eyes, and
then tried to see if l could discern an antelope
across the sights with ordinary clearness.
1t was total transformation. The animal
stood out in bold relief and the notch and
bead of the sights were as clear and distinct
as even the most fastidious on such subjects
could desire blazed away at the same old
foolish buck, who was still gazing in a sort of
wondering admiration at us, and had the
satisfaction of dropping him at the first fire
We dined off antelope steak that night, and
juicy, delicious morsel it was, too. While
visiting my friend at his ranch, enjoyed
more than one delightful hunt. Among the
game bagged by myself may be mentioned a
gallant buck of the blacktail deer species,
with the most beautiful antlers have almost
ever seen; brace of mountain sheep, and
any quantity of cottontail and jackass rab-
bits.
But my best sport was in hunting antelope
among the herd. The foolish creatures
seemed utterly and totally fascinated by the
great big, half civilized steers, and in roam
ing over tie snow covered prairie searching
for the antelope, all that was necessary was
simply x spy bunch of cattle and there the
game was sure to be found.-Fort Keogh
Cor. Gle veland Leader.
Children on the Streets.
One of the saddest sights on the streets at
night is the number Of little children who ere
out at almost any hour up to IL o'clock.
Streets like Pitts, South Margin, Friend and
the rest of the slummy neighborhoods swarm
with boys and girls playing at noisy games,
apparently without thought of going to bed
or being sleepy, at time when well to do
boys and girls are sound asleep. How do
they live and grow to maturity? They must
be astir in the morning. Is it a hollow su-
perstition that children must sleep ten or
twelve hours a dayl Or have the parents of
these children no doctors or priests to tell
fhaY, that vOunostars Should ba in 1,ad no